Posted on 03/01/2023 7:23:33 AM PST by metmom
How many years did you waste before you repented and surrendered all to Jesus? How many years were eaten up by the cankerworm of sin and rebellion? Now you know you are forgiven, but wouldn’t you love to get back those years and live them for the glory of the Lord?
In his final days, Paul looked back over his life and testified, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NKJV). Paul says, “Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). In other words, “Forget your past and press on in Jesus!”
Satan’s favorite form of harassment is bringing up your past to scare you. He will try to persuade you that an old addiction or lust is going to rise up in your heart and take you back to the old life. He’ll use every weapon in his arsenal to bring you down with fear.
It’s true that you may feel the pangs of remorse as long as you live. Yes, the memories will keep you humble, but in God’s eyes, your past is a dead issue. “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…my great army which I sent among you” (Joel 2:25 NKJV). As far as condemnation and guilt are concerned, God says, “Walk with confidence and freedom into the future!”
We see a picture of such restoration in the New Testament when Jesus healed a man with a withered hand. “Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other” (Matthew 12:13). You see, when Jesus restores you, he also heals the wounds.
Beloved, take those old wounds — the worries and regrets about your wasted years — and let God restore to you all the years that were taken away. Press on toward the prize of your high calling in him!
The Return ping
Thanks for posting this.
I needed it myself.
That seems to happens a lot with these devotionals.
Good post.
Thank you, perfect timing as my eyes start to water.
I don’t think it gets any better than this. Thank you, metmom.
Pass it on.
Amen. Thanks for posting.
ping
Thank you for posting this metmom!
Something I have to keep reminding myself. I have been forgiven but can’t seem to shake the guilt
I have been forgiven but can’t seem to shake the guilt
Thoughts of guilt should lead to thoughts of forgiveness.
A good complete cycle to be in. Thoughts of both are needed.
“If a person commits a crime and doesn’t repent, what good did it do him? Someone else might just as well have committed the crime.”
Mark Twain.
Nice. True. and worth waiting for.
I find reading Romans 7 & 8 to be a big help.
Also recognizing where and from whom those guilty feelings after repentance and forgiveness come from. The "accuser of the brethren", Satan, wants us to wallow in shame and remorse so that we can't walk in victory over that sin. I find that whenever those thoughts start to creep in I stop and thank God for His grace and forgiveness and remember it's under the blood of Christ and He has removed it from me as far as the east is from the west. He promised He will remember it NO MORE.
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